Scope of the conference

One of the main challenges of today’s society involves the much needed transition from an almost exclusively fossil-based economy to a more sustainable one, in order to counteract and reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases and associated rise in global warming.

Recent agreements, such as the signing by over 150 countries of the Paris Climate Treaty in 2016, will boost the development and implementation of new biobased technologies, processes and products based on sustainable renewable feedstocks, with a focus on agro, forestry and municipal residue streams.

During the development, design and implementation of low to zero carbon-emission biobased alternatives much care should be taken regarding sustainability, including environmental and soil nutrient recycling aspects as well as economic factors.

In March 2016, BE-Basic and Elsevier organised the first edition of the ECO-BIO symposium in Rotterdam, bringing together scientists as well as representatives from SMEs, industry, governmental institutes and NGO’s. The conference was attended by more than 350 worldwide representatives, from over 60 countries and included 80 oral presentations and over 180 poster presentations

ECO-BIO 2016 offered the possibility for these stakeholders to discuss the needs of a biobased economy from an academic, environmental and societal point of view and catch-up on the latest research and its results from all over the world.

For the 2018 edition, we will highlight progress and recent developments as well as the necessary steps to make the biobased economy a reality. How do we embed the biobased economy in society? How do we create new partnerships to enable new cascaded biobased value chains? These developments will have a hugely positive impact on sustainability issues and our future economies. It is time to upscale our innovations and turn them into real, practical solutions.

Taking place over two and a half days, ECO-BIO 2018 will comprise plenary talks and forum discussions, parallel sessions, posters and an exhibition together with optional company visits.